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409 Final Essay
Wells Fargo Question
The fraud triangle framework, used to explain the rationale behind unethical behavior, focuses on three
legs: pressure, opportunity, and rationalization. In the case of Wells Fargo, the root cause behind
employees committing unethical sales tactics was a result of a combination of these three legs.
Pressure was one of the initial contributing factors that led sales associates and manager to commit
questionable sales tactics. The primary source of pressure at Wells Fargo came from the organization.
Middle managers pressured tellers to meet sales goals by any means necessary, and middle managers
were pressured by top management to constantly improve sales. Pressure became so extreme, that
employees were not allowed to go home until they met their daily sales goal. Furthermore, middle
managers had to constantly report and justify their subordinate’s sales numbers, often multiple times a
day (Wells Fargo Case). These increased pressure originating at the top of the organization, trickled its
